Waste in China

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Today, most cities in China, treat waste by: Landfill, burning the waste to create energy, or just burning the waste openly. All these ways create environmental pollution, and the outcome of energy is minimal and very costly.

Very little is done for separation of waste and is focused on Plastic, Metal, Glass and Paper.

Landfill, creates pollution in land and aquifer water on one hand and releases Methane gas (most hazardous gas) on the other.

Burning > Energy facility, is very expensive to build and maintain. As more than ~1/2 of the waste treated is “wet”, the facility uses lots of energy to allow the waste to burn, the outcome is economically poor in results.

Burning in the open, well, we surly understand the drastic implications on pollution, while treating waste this way.

As a rule of the thumb, more than ½ of the waste in China is of organic origin.

ABE-China and it affiliate Re3 in Israel, created a sustainable model for treating waste, focusing on China.

By using Israeli knowhow, you can implement a green, environmental, sustainable model, of treating waste, according the guidelines of the 5 year plan issues by the Beijing central government.

The first stage of this model uses the vegetables waste from the local markets, waste from agriculture area and the trim waste of grass and trees around city’s gardens.

The second stage focus on educational campaign, leading restaurants, and the local citizens for separation of their “green” waste.

Each stage result is ~1/4 of the total city waste, treated by a simple and very lucrative facility based on Israeli knowhow.

The end product of the facility is Organic Fertilizer, that can replace the Chemical fertilizers used in agriculture, thus, creating a great leap in quality and profit for the farmers as they will start to grow profitable and healthy Organic vegetables.

Major benefits: The ROI is very short, the total investment is relatively small, and as it is totally following the 5 year plan, and as such, it may be heavily subsidized.

The risks: As it is a sustainable methodology, widely used, with minimal investment, the risk factor is almost irrelevant.

The Chinese sold $48 billion in Treasuries. That’s by far the largest amount ever. Should the USA be worried? Not yet.

They still own $1.3 trillion in U.S. bonds. It is the largest foreign holder of U.S. federal debt, which is why many people say China owns the USA.

The USA has more options than China who got to this point.

The Chinese do not really have what to do with this amount even if they turn the debt in to hard currency.

Since China’s economy model is flexible, and this money was accumulated though years of exporting to the west while importing next to none, and they cannot reverse the trade overnight, there is not much they can do now. If the central Bank of China would sell treasuries and buy Yuan, two things will happen. First, the Yuan exchange rate will rise dramatically. This will make Chinese exports even more uncompetitive, on top of the situation where wages and land prices have risen over the years. It would also result in widespread unemployment.

Second, the Bank of China’s balance sheet will shrink, draining the money supply. Very bad news for the Chinese credit system that is bigger than the one in the USA.

They might consider selling treasuries and buy gold and other dollar assets, but to what extent? The United States treasury market is the largest, most liquid, and the deepest capital market in the world. No other nation can afford to absorb $1.3 trillion, instantly.

So Beijing is forced to hold on to an asset that—thanks to the US Federal Reserve’s carries a low-to-negative real interest rate and cannot be sold in bulk.

If the Chinese might want to play a game and sell in bulk, the United States Federal Reserve could absorb it as a buyer of last resort.

J.Paul Getty

The USA owes the People Republic of China $1.3 trillion. In this case, China is the bank, and they have a problem.

ShuangHui International announced a name change. The newly re-named “WH Group” will apply for a USD 6b IPO in Hong Kong and a USD 1m IPO in Harbin – by far the largest IPO in Asia for years. The ShuangHui new logo show their goal to gain a higher international image: Their spokesman explained the new logo by showing four white waves representing the major oceans, and the rest of the red pieces symbolize the world’s continents. The former WH Group recently acquired Smithfield Foods (US), establishing the pew position as the world’s largest pork supplier.

Last week, China published the annual policy; many call it the “farm bill”. In it we can see the first time “eco-agriculture”. We believe that publicly listed green fertilizer companies, will be the major beneficiary. Beyond sustainability, the Policy signals significant shift in China’s agricultural commodities pricing system, and increased investment in agriculture logistics, in order to support improved safety of fresh food products.

We support and encourage these kinds of initiatives, leading China to a better and healthier way of life.

Israel is called the “Startup Nation” I call it, said Netanyahu, the” Innovation nation”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his speech at the annual economic forum in Davos on Thursday, focusing mainly on economic partnerships and Israel’s entrepreneurial opportunities.

When addressing the Peace negotiations with the Palestinians Netanyahu said: “I believe we can get there. It is difficult, but it is like riding a bicycle…you have to keep going. In order to make peace in the world, it takes two to tango, and the Middle East needs at least three,” Netanyahu said referring to Israel ally, the USA.

The Chinese New Year is by far the most important and longest holiday in China.
The date 31 January 2014 is determined by the Chinese Lunar calendar and the year will be 4712

According the Chinese calendar, and as it is a lunar one, the beginning of each month is on the darkest day of this month. Traditionally, the New Year’s celebrations will start on that day and continue for 2 weeks when the moon is “full” and brightest.

People in China will sometimes take a 2-4 weeks’ vacation to stay with their families, taking in consideration that getting back home may take a week each way, does not leave much time for celebrations.

Why is it called the year of the “Horse”?

According to some legends, Buddha invited all animals to meet with him on the Chinese New Year, just 12 showed up. Buddha created a cycle of 12 years were each year is named after one of these animals. Furthermore he stated that people born in each year will have some of that animal’s personality.

People who were born on the year of the Horse may be cheerful, rich and skilfull, witty, talented, Handymen, and perceptive.